Research from the Global Web Index (GWI) has found more than two thirds of sports fans aged between 16 and 24 support environmental change, and have higher expectations of brands, teams and athletes to uphold these values than ever before.

The Sports Playbook, using GWI’s new sports data set, surveyed 9 763 sports fans between 16 and 24, across 15 core markets, with 69% looking for stakeholders in sport to help communities and improve equality.

GWI’s data also highlights the growing connection between politics and sport, with fans expecting this to become more of a normality, whilst the data highlights the reliance on the generational passing down of following specific teams is phasing out, whilst 15% of 16 to 24 year olds believe sport to be more divisive than uniting, compared with 5% of 55 to 64 year olds.

On the topic of diversity and corporate social responsibility, the study found this was crucial to winning new fans, stating it as “absolutely essential today.”

Women’s sport is becoming an increasingly smart investment, according to GWI, with 60% of fans watching or following at least one of the 30 women’s sports leagues tracked in the study, with 70% of females in the study tuning into female leagues.